


The Ghost of You

by Edgeanescence



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, characters will be added to tags as chapters are released
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-29
Updated: 2018-11-29
Packaged: 2019-09-02 06:09:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16781197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edgeanescence/pseuds/Edgeanescence
Summary: Connor's not sure what he's seeing. Reels of video playback in his mind, piquing his interest with every thirium splatter. He doesn't remember any of this, but it feels so familiar that it sends a strange feeling down his metallic spine. Recurring images of someone he can't fully recall floods his vision until he is unable to do anything but seek their blurry face out.Cyberlife didn't intend this for their prototype.





	The Ghost of You

**Author's Note:**

> First few chapters will largely be a rehash of canon events in order to set up plot. The story will diverge from canon later on, but please bear with me for a bit.

Inside a towering apartment complex, the sole elevator soared high up, shooting for the top floors. The soft light inside it bounced off the metallic interior, showing off the lone occupant. His style was formal, shiny black dress shoes complimenting the grey color scheme of his suit and pants. The dress shirt below was plain ivory with a dark tie hanging from around his neck. CyberLife’s branding was emblazoned on the coat, brandishing the blue triangle and band proudly. It indicated the man was an android, complete with his model and serial number in snowy white. Occasional freckles dotted the RK800’s features, small specks nearly the same shade of chestnut as his hair. Most of the said hair was neatly shaped back on his head except for the lick of a few locks that arched over his forehead. 

Earth colored eyes eagerly watched as the numbers on the door ticked upwards to 70. A quarter danced around his fingers as he tossed it from hand to hand, calibrating himself for the mission ahead. As the 70 was illuminated, he pocketed the coin and straightened his tie, looking dead ahead as the lift retracted its doors. A dim passage was revealed, the scarce lights being dim enough to glare down the things directly below them. An armed SWAT officer stood in the way, making an audible report to his commander before retreating, “Negotiator on site. Repeat, negotiator on site.”

Stepping out, the android made his way through the hall, pausing momentarily as he analyzed the area. On his right, a brown wooden table was pressed against the wall. Resting on top of it was a picture frame revealed the occupants of the penthouse; the Phillipses. On the other side of the hall was a leaky fish tank and a fish flopping on the floor. The RK800 walked over to it, picking up the dwarf gourami to study it. LED spinning yellow, he blinked. There was an 88% chance for saving it if he put it back into the tank, and he took it, lifting the colorful little guy up and dropping it into the water. It swam around as he watched it, seemingly just fine. At this, a message came up in his systems, floating in the corner of his sight.

Software Instability: ^

The brown-haired android wasn’t sure what that stood for, but he ran a diagnostics check to find the potential issue. It wasn’t that much of importance anyway compared to his task at hand. Nothing turned up within the next minute, so he dismissed the message as an error.

A distressed woman, Caroline Phillips, as he recognized her facial structure from the picture on the table earlier, was being escorted out as the negotiator turned the corner. She grasped onto him by the shoulders, eyes full of tears and her voice pleading, “Oh, oh please, please, you gotta save my little girl…” A droplet rolled down her angled cheeks as she shook him, suddenly pausing to notice the luminescent triangle. “Wait..” She removed her hands, looking the android up and down and she backed away. Her tone shifted into pure disbelief, “you’re sending an android?”

The SWAT officer grabbed her before she could do anything irrational, telling her that they needed to go. As he dragged Caroline away, she attempted to spin around and stare at the RK800, fighting the officer. “Why aren’t you sending a real person? Don’t let that thing near her! Keep that thing away from my daughter!” 

New Objective: Find Captain Allen.

Ignoring her, the negotiator continued on his quest, walking into the crime scene as the elevator in the foyer shut. Bullet holes cracked screens and lamps, some burying themselves into the walls. Various items were misplaced and scattered about the floor, almost as if a tiny tornado had ripped apart the penthouse before the android’s arrival. Picture frames were skewed, pillows were strewn about the floor, broken glass embedded in the carpet glinted like tiny quartz crystals. Any and all blankets were ruffled and messy, a few dead humans complimenting the disastrous scene. One appeared to be a first responder, at least from what the android could see as he passed, and the other in casual day to day clothes. Multiple SWAT men were armed and shifted around upon the android’s entry, hunched over with guns poised at the balcony outside. Not paying them any mind, the RK800 strolled right on into the master bedroom.

This room was just as torn up as the rest of the location, two men hanging around a computer. One was actively standing while the other sat in the flat swivel chair, staring at the screen. The android approached them, interrupting their chat and introducing himself.

“Captain Allen?” He tilted his head, glancing over the SWAT captain’s features. “My name is Connor. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.”

Captain Allen disregarded the statement, zoning in on the report on the screen. Instead, he offered up information on the whereabouts of the deviant and the like. “It’s firing at everything that moves, it already shot down two of my men… We could easily get it, but they’re on the edge of the balcony. If it falls,” Allen shifted to look at Connor, as if eye contact would bring utmost importance to his next couple words. “She falls.” His turned his face to the computer screen.

Keeping a comfortable space between them, Connor had been listening intently, taking note of the captain’s last sentence in particular. He felt prompted to inquire about the deviant in order to better assess how to handle it. After all, being a good negotiator required some knowledge of the enemy. 

The RK800 leaned over slightly as he questioned Captain Allen. “Have you tried its deactivation code?” It felt like the appropriate question to ask and arguably the most helpful in this case. 

However, the captain snapped back within the last second of the android speaking, “That’s the first thing we tried.”

Mentally, Connor made a remark on that and stored the file away. Deviants still weren’t fully understood yet so this information seemed valuable to them, potentially, as a whole. Next up, he asked about what happened to the deviant to trigger its actions. “Has it experienced an emotional shock recently?”

Fed up with the other’s pestering, the SWAT captain whirled around, stepping right up to the android. “Listen, saving that kid is all that matters.” Chocolate orbs met, thick eyebrows angled downward as the human's tone got feisty. “So either you deal with this fucking android now, or I’ll take care of it.” Allen pushed past Connor, vacating the room to head elsewhere.

A new status message flickered into being on his sensors. A red bar dipped down slightly, matching numbers indicating his rate of success. 48%. 

Understanding that every second counted, the negotiator got to work. If Captain Allen and his men weren’t going to cough up information willingly and just stay on standby, then he was going to do it himself. 

Spotting a gun case on the floor, he took a close look at it first. The firearm was not akin to the SWAT rifles, which were large and heavy duty and also required much different ammunition. Connor decided that it would be best to reconstruct the scene, and suddenly the world zoned out for a moment, rebuilding what happened. A network of lines formed a skeleton of a figure, the deviant most likely, reaching upwards to pull it off of the shelf. It took the gun out and based on prior knowledge, still had it on its person.

The success rate rose to 51%.

Connor left the master bedroom, looking around for the first place to check out. Obviously, the balcony would have to be the last place looked at once he was ready; there was no telling just how dangerous that deviant was if he lacked the proper information to talk it down. The room with purple glow felt oddly alluring to Connor as he walked by, leading his feet inside to inspect it. It was a bedroom, albeit much more quaint than the master. Given the layout of the apartment and belongings in the room, it was safe to assume it was Emma’s. One of the first things he noticed was the tablet lounging on the desk, silver-colored play button signaling a video contained on it. Picking it up, the android played the video to see if there was anything to take away from it.

A PL600 and a young girl were standing outside in the park. The girl had dark hair, freckles, and cool grey eyes; easily lining up with the child in the picture. The android was in his smart casual work outfit as regulated by law, displaying his serial number, model and name, along with the distinguishing blue triangle and armband. Emma and the android were smiling and joyful. She gleefully introduced him as Daniel, the coolest android in the world, and asked him to say hi. Daniel obeyed and greeted the camera with a wave. Before the video cut off, she left off with a sweet comment about their relationship, casually calling him her bestie.

Replacing the tablet, Connor searched the room for any other possible evidence, locating a pair of headphones resting on the floor. The music resounded through the speakers so loud that it was a wonder Emma had not suffered some form of hearing loss. Nevertheless, it pieced together that Emma hadn’t heard anything for quite a while, at least until the deviant got her. Seeing nothing else of interest in the child’s room, he went to investigate the rest of the premises. 

Rate of success: 58%.

The android went straight across into the large room the effectively combined a kitchen and living room. A body of John Phillips was propped up on the ruins of a table, blood clotting around the circular wounds in his chest. Upon further analysis, the cause of death was induced by internal bleeding rather than the actual gunshots. Like before, what happened was soon rebuilt in Connor’s processors, wireframes of human and android alike illustrating the motions of the incident. The deviant stood behind the father with the pistol. The father was looking at a tablet before noticing the eyes on him and getting up. Bang, bang, John Phillips was injured and stumbled back onto the table where he passed away. 

A short ways away was the tablet, which the detective android picked up and examined. Blood stained the once clear screen, coagulating on the surface. A finger swiped the surface to unlock the tablet, revealing a purchase made for an AP700. A disembodied voice could be heard transmitting through the device, “Your order for an AP700 android has been registered, CyberLife thanks you for your purchase.” 

64%.

It didn’t take much to put two and two together that Daniel found out he was going to be replaced and tried to foil the father’s plan by murdering him. Connor resumed his hunt for evidence and anything that would help him accomplish his mission. Across from the room was a police officer, his gun residing under the dinner table while his corpse faced towards the balcony. Another warp into the astral plane of his reconstruction program showed the first responder taking aim at the deviant, firing off a round that wounded the android before being shot back. Thirium splashed onto the wall and ground, blood smears on the ground from the exchange. Emma was with Daniel, the android presumably having retrieved her from her room after her father died. 

The playback led him to the child’s shoe laying on the floor, suggesting Emma could be wounded via the traces of scarlet that dappled the sides. After that, his eyes were directed to the blue blood clinging to the walls. The RK800 glided over, swabbed some with his finger, and sampled it. As an advanced prototype, he was manufactured with a forensics lab inside him. Licking blood granted him instant access to facts that would take normal human police longer to analyze. PL600 was the model number that flooded his HUD, indeed confirming the deviant was Daniel.

Connor couldn’t fathom why Daniel, being so close to Emma, would just take her hostage instead of fleeing the apartment, but he chalked it up to new emotions making the PL600 irrational. Deviants, in many ways, were just like humans. Spontaneous and driven by feelings rather than facts; illogical. They were volatile threats to Detroit, something he was built to control and put down. 

He wandered over to the gun, grabbing the deceased officers firearm and pocketing it. Technically, androids weren’t allowed to hold guns, but seeing the weapon as more of a bargaining tactic versus a threat, Connor took the risk. None of the SWAT team told him off for doing so, at least not yet. 

77%.

Feeling confident in his data, Connor strode out onto the rooftop terrace. Pollution from decades of smoke and gasoline blanketed over the stars in the sky, snuffing them out. The lack of stars made the darkness of the night all-encompassing, save for the bright neon signs that glowed vibrantly against the shadow. The highlighter colors brought out the shape and sheer size of the massive city. Other buildings stood tall and proud throughout this portion of Detroit, like symbols of man’s architectural achievements. A helicopter soared by and now was hovering overhead, relatively close to the terrace, propellers kicking up wind that manifested as visible bands across the surface of the pool. A motionless body floated in the water like a demented life raft, crimson clouding out of the wounds, dying the clear liquid a shade of red. Another officer was badly wounded on the other side of the terrace, bleeding out waterfalls. Lawn and lounge chairs flew into the air from the helicopter, some plummeting to the streets below. Connor’s own suit jacket was wavering in the artificial gusts, his short locks loosening from their neat form and being tossed about. And in the center of it all was a rogue android standing on the edge of the building, pressing the barrel of a gun to a young child’s head. 

However, once Daniel caught sight of the RK800, he fired. The bullet whizzed by, taking off a chunk of Connor’s arm and exposing the circuitry below. “Stay back!” The blonde android hollered. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll jump!” The girl piped up, expressing her distress, which prompted the PL600 to push the pistol back onto a frightened Emma.

SWAT snipers were setting up, aiming their weapons at the android to exterminate it if needed. Connor was set back slightly from the injury, but he was persistent on accomplishing his mission. Stepping out carefully again, he called back, “Hi Daniel! My name is Connor.” 

The deviant was puzzled, inquiring how Connor figured out his name aloud as the other inched closer. “How- How do you know my name?”

“I know a lot of things about you.”

The rate of success lowered to 61%.

The android was going to need to stabilize in order to get the best possible outcome. As Connor spoke to him, the detective made his way over to the wounded cop. “I know you’re angry, Daniel. But you’re going to have to trust me and let me help you.”

“I don’t want your help!” Daniel interjected, defiance ringing clear in his voice. “Nobody can help me!” Suddenly his tone shifted into one of lamentation. “All I want is for this to stop! I… I just want all this to stop…” His newfound emotions ebbed like waves through his words, just like the few tears rolling down his cheeks.

Connor got to the body as the other spoke, kneeling down to assess the damage on the man. His arm seemed to be the source of it, although it was leaking so much that in order to survive copious amounts of pressure needed to be applied. The android looked at the other, interrupting his moment with pure honesty. “He’s losing blood. If we don’t get him to a hospital he’s going to die.”

“All humans die eventually. What does it matter if this one dies now?” Daniel proposed, looking dead ahead at Connor’s face. His LED was yellow, probably due to consideration over the other’s gesture. 

Disregarding the depressing remark, the negotiator went ahead and tried working on saving the human, rolling the body over. Peeved by being ignored, Daniel aimed and shot, bullet missing Connor’s hand by mere millimeters. Luckily it only planted itself into the ground and the cop wasn’t injured further.

“Don’t touch him! Touch him and I’ll kill you!”

Connor, sensing a risk in destabilization, pushed himself off the ground and backed away. It wasn’t worth it to have any risk in not calming the deviant down. The officer would just have to die, a sacrifice for the greater good of saving others from an unstable android. He continued on, bringing up the relationship between the android and child once had. “I know you and Emma were very close. You think she betrayed you- but she did nothing wrong.”

“She lied to me…” Came the slow reply, “I thought she loved me… But I was wrong…” He growled as he got to the word ‘wrong’ holding Emma close to his chest and keeping the gun aimed at her head. “She’s just like all the other humans..” 

Out of fear, the girl pleaded with him, dampness running down her cheeks and shining in the lights around them. “Daniel no..” Emma sounded broken and sad, weak and useless. She knew she was just being used as a device for Daniel to have leverage, even if she didn’t admit it aloud. She fidgeted around as much as she could, though not nearly enough to escape the PL600’s grasp.

By now, the success rate was around 71%. Still not high enough.

Daniel suddenly turned the gun on Connor again, making an accusation. “Are you armed?”

“Yes. I have a gun.” Came the honest reply. 

Daniel threatened Connor to drop it, to which Connor obeyed as well. The weapon was discarded, and as planned, the stability rate rose higher. The RK800 kept his arms out in a disarming stance, showing that he had nothing else on him. “There, no more gun.”

Daniel calmed down a bit at the sight, stabilization meter increasing in those small increments. From the distance, it seemed like he almost let out a deep breath he had no need to hold. Daniel’s LED was the color of a clear sky during midday.

“They were going to replace you and you became upset. That’s what happened, right?”

“I thought I was part of the family. I thought I mattered…” Daniel waved his weapon around again, pointing it in the direction of the officer he injured. He was letting his feelings guide him on his course of actions, to the point of mindlessly moving about in consideration of words. His tone kept faltering, dipping down between the extreme of anger and hate, and regret and sadness. “But I was just their toy, something to throw away when you’re done with it…”

“Listen, I know it’s not your fault. These emotions you’re feeling are just errors in your software.”

“No, it’s not my fault... I never wanted this..” The hurt in the blonde android’s icy blue orbs was stunning. His teeth gritted together and his LED remained that golden yellow. Snipers above took aim at him as he spoke, “I loved them, you know… But I was nothing to them… Just a slave to be ordered around...” By now, the helicopter’s propellers had propelled him to despising the echoing sound, Daniel frustratingly complaining about it. “Urrghh..” He groaned, “I can’t stand that noise anymore!” Suddenly he jerked his head forwards and back, the hand with the pistol mimicking the motion. “Tell that helicopter to get out of here!” 

Being docile and friendly was the best approach, so Connor whirled his hand around, dispelling the chopper from sight for the time being. After a quick report on board, the helicopter flew away, down from the way it arrived. “There, I did as you wanted.”

95%. So close, Connor could practically taste success.

“You have to trust me, Daniel. Let the hostage go and I promise you everything will be fine.”

99%.

Seeing this as his opportunity to get off scathe free, Daniel placed his trust in the RK800. His demands were simple, “I want everyone to leave..” His arm moved in a semi-circle around him to demonstrate what he meant by everyone. The deviant stuttered over his next sentence, “A-a-and I wanna car!” His expression shifted into more of a pleading one, eyebrows raised, corners of his lips turning downward rather than pulling back into a sneer. “When I’m outside the city I’ll let her go.”

“That’s impossible, Daniel. Let the girl go and I promise you won’t be hurt.” 

He tensed up a bit at that response, pausing for a moment. It looked like he gulped, although both androids knew it was not a necessary function. The PL600’s next line wasn’t rage driven, it was out of pure fear that was stricken into his metal heart. “I don’t wanna die..” He confessed quietly, eyebrows falling back down, curling upwards towards the center of his face.

“You’re not going to die, we’re just going to talk. Nothing will happen to you, you have my word.” Connor said in his rather soothing voice, finally getting the blonde android to the maximum percentage.

The other male android nodded, a mumble of agreement slipping past his lips. ”I trust you.” Emma was freed from his grasp, the small girl running away a couple feet before collapsing on the terrace. Out of pain or fear it was unknown, though Connor was glad she was out of the way and his mission was nearly finished.

100%.

Time seemed to slow for the RK800. The snipers fired at the deviant, blowing off chunks of mechanical parts. First to go was Daniel’s side, then his shoulder and finally jaw. Each blow caused blue to spray out of his body like a volcano violently erupting hot lava into the sky. From these impacts, Daniel’s chassis danced around, swaying this way and that until he fell onto his knees, unable to stand. The liquid skin on segments of his body was disabled, revealing the plastic and metal below. Even on the sitting ground he bled and bled, running out of thirium faster than the officer that needed a tourniquet. Coldly, Daniel spoke his last words to Connor. “You lied to me, Connor. You lied to me…” The deviant froze up, inner mechanisms ceasing to function. 

Connor just stood there temporarily, witnessing that same message from earlier flash across his HUD. The software instability increased once more. Despite the powerful wind stirred up by the helicopter, the air felt stagnant and heavy, almost forcing the negotiator to stay longer. The images from Daniel’s very recent deactivation played in his mind, circulating. Blood, more blood. Haunting last words. How his body parts were destroyed and unceremoniously flung off his body. Terrified, remorseful, confused... And this deviant paid the price in being executed. As it looped, Connor’s LED spun red. 

Pictures from a different era were mixed in with Daniel, some collecting as small videos in his memory banks. It was of more blood stretching into space, only this time the backdrop was a light colored sky instead of pitch black. Everything was blurry, even the thirium that should be right at him. In fact, it felt as if it was coming from his body given the amount being expelled was mere inches away from his lens. As far as he knew, the RK800 prototype was just sent on its very first mission today, leaving CyberLife’s land in order to go for a test run. So why were these images showing up? Was this what software instability meant? Fabricated images flooding into his memory banks, potentially some kind of malware ready to pry him open to the insanity of deviancy? It intrigued Connor, but he pushed the thought to the side. Certainly, CyberLife would repair his unit once he got back.

Snapping back into reality, his LED faded into a smooth yellow as he ran another diagnostics check. Emma was still on the ground, but the hostage was safe, not a single bullet wound on her tiny form. His mission was done, and at the end of the day, it’s what mattered most. Connor turned around as Captain Allen and his men came out, heading back to CyberLife HQ.


End file.
